Bratton On NYPD Twitter Backlash: We Won’t Quit Social Media

Search results on Twitter for the hashtag #MyNYPD Search results on Twitter for the hashtag #MyNYPD

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Police Commissioner Bill Bratton admits he was caught off guard after a Twitter request by the NYPD backfired in a very public way, but said Wednesday he has no plans to abandon social media.

The NYPD asked Twitter users Tuesday to share pictures of them posing with police officers using the hashtag #MyNYPD.

The effort was put forward as Bratton tries to soften the department’s image following years of criticism over the stop-and-frisk policy, CBS 2’s Don Champion reported.

Bratton On NYPD Twitter Backlash: We Won't Quit Social Media

Police even offered an example of a picture showing a man with his arms around two police officers and said it might feature pictures sent in on its Facebook page.

Many also tweeted comments like, “Wondering if the @nypdnews social media strategist still has their job today.”

On Wednesday, Bratton commented on the negative posts, saying most of the pictures were “old news.”

“They’ve been out there for a long time,” Bratton said. “Often times our activities are lawful, but they look awful and that’s the reality. And as I looked at some of those photos, those were officers engaged lawfully.”

The police commissioner said the campaign to have the public tweet positive pictures with officers will continue and has no intention of asking Twitter to remove any of the photos he has seen so far, CBS 2’s Alice Gainer reported.

“What we’re trying to do is be more open, more transparent and we’re going to engage in everything that will allow us to do that,” Bratton said.

Police spokeswoman Kim Royster said Tuesday the NYPD “is creating new ways to communicate effectively with the community” and said Twitter “provides an open forum for an uncensored exchange and this is an open dialogue good for our city.”

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